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Final farewell

Isaac s Restaurant co-owner Bruce Helmig gives bartender Ike Foster a hard time at Isaac s farewell party for family and friends.
A moment later, Foster opened an alarm clock as a gag gift from Helmig and co-owners Bob Rowland and Dale Harned. The owners gave each of their employees a gift, full of inside jokes, that filled the now-closed restaurant with laughter.

SILVER CITY — Passersby wouldn't have known Isaac's Restaurant was closing by the laughter ringing off the walls at its farewell party Sunday night.

Isaac's doors were locked but opened for family and friends at a private "going away" party of sorts. Isaac's Restaurant closed on Sunday after six years in business.

The three owners - Dale Harned, Bruce Helmig and Bob Rowland - moved to Silver City from the San Francisco Bay Area to retire but instead opened Isaac's, first as a bar. None of the men had experience as restaurateurs, but were tired of not being able to find a proper martini, according to Helmig.

Isaac's opened in 2005 after an extensive remodel. It transformed over the years due to the recession and expensive state liquor licenses.

"We were lucky enough to find a group of employees who, in the end, became like family," Helmig said. "Some of their kids feel like our grandkids."

All of that family was in attendance Sunday night and everyone was smiling and laughing. The only thing that would have made Helmig's night better would have been his San Francisco 49ers pulling off a win against the Seattle Seahawks.

Bob Rowland is now looking for buyers or tenants for the building on the corner of Bullard and Broadway downtown.

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